Overview and Setting

A recent college applicant has just been accepted to the University of Oregon. However, among this great news, he finds himself running into a host of difficulties and problems. Fu, the admitted student who currently lives in Taipei, has several obstacles to overcome before he can travel to the University of Oregon in time to meet his registration deadline. In his endeavors, he receives help from multiple people and technologies in order to accomplish his goal.

The People

Fu Huang is a newly admitted student to the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Oregon. He has just received his acceptance letter and has decided to organize a trip to Eugene to visit the University of Oregon. In order to complete the registration process, Fu needs to show up at the Computer and Information Science Department office 24 hours before classes begin. In addition, Fu would like to pay a visit to his aunt in San Francisco and stay with her for two weeks. Unfortunately, Fu’s passport has expired, so he must go to the Bureau of Consular Affairs to renew his passport. In the meantime, he also needs to book a ticket to San Francisco and figure out a means of travel from San Francisco to Eugene.

Joey Cheng is a police officer in the Bureau of Consular Affairs at Taipei. His duty is to supervise people who want to enter the building. He directs incoming people through a metal detection gate, and then gives instructions to the place they would like to go. If he thinks the person walking through the gate is suspicious or if the gate alert sounds, he must stop that person and lead him/her to a secure room for detailed inspection. As part of Joey’s mandatory training for subduing possible wrongdoers, he practices Judo with his colleagues two days a week.

Martha Liu is a government agent in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Her job is to interview people who want to get or renew their passport. She must first review a person’s citizen ID, and then verify the ID using a delicate machine that projects ultraviolet rays on the ID. The validity of the ID can then be determined by checking for a specific watermark under the ultraviolet rays. If no watermark is seen, then it is a fraud. She also has a computer for printing out important information to be given to verified applicants.

Sarah Wang is an experienced travel agent working for Holiday Tour Inc. She loves to interact with her clients and to help them find a cheap, convenient, and safe way to travel to their destination. Usually, she will answer the phone, listen to her client’s travel plan, and then search a travel database system to find the best date and price of a trip. She then reports her recommendation to her client. She is very familiar with the way to search the travel system, and she can usually find a good travel package to satisfy her clients.

Nan Huang is Fu’s uncle. He is a biochemistry engineer in Taipei. He likes to travel all over the world. In order to get the most for his money, he spends a lot of time surfing the Internet for new resort information and promotions. He has lots of experience using computers and the Internet to book tickets and make hotel reservations.

The Scenario

Fu decides to go study at the University of Oregon

Fu, an international student, has applied to the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Oregon, Fall 2002. He has just received his admission letter, as seen in Figure 1, from University of Oregon, and has made up his mind to spend his next two years there. Because this is the first time for him to study abroad, he is naturally a little nervous and anxious about what is to come.

Figure 1. Fu is reading his acceptance letter

Fu has a passport, but it expired about a year ago. His mother tells him that he must have his passport renewed at the Bureau of Consular Affairs as soon as possible. In addition, he has to plan out his trip to Eugene, and he wants to take the opportunity to visit his aunt in San Francisco.

Fu sits down and decides to write out a plan of attack, so that he knows what to do. He knows that his travel agent can help him organize the trip and book the ticket. He also knows that his uncle, Nan Huang, is an experienced traveler and can be very helpful. He, therefore, writes out his strategy; he will first renew his passport. Next, he will call his travel agent. Lastly, he will visit his uncle for some words of advice.

Joey shows Fu the way to quickly pass the metal detection gate

First, Fu needs to renew his passport, so he goes to the Bureau of Consular Affairs in Taipei. When Fu enters the building, he meets a police office, Joey seen in Figure 2, who is directing people through a metal detector gate in a fast and friendly manner. After the detection gate, Joey then guides the people to a service window.

Figure 2. Joey monitoring the gate.

Joey advises Fu that he must take off anything metal, such as a watch, coins, or necklace, before he can walk through the metal detection gate. If there is still anything metallic on Fu while passing through the gate, an alert will sound and the police officer will have to lead Fu to a separate room and give him a detailed inspection.

With Joey’s advice, Fu makes it through the gate. After getting through the gate, Joey tells Fu that in order to renew his passport, he needs to get a number from the number machine and wait then wait for his number to be called. Fu notices an LED board showing the number currently being served in front of each window. When the LED changes to the number that Fu got from the number machine, he can then go up to the service window.

Martha helps Fu renew his passport

Martha pushes a button to increment the LED counter, so that the next person can be served. Fu comes up to the window and hands his paper application, citizen ID, and expired passport to Martha in Figure 3. Martha first looks at Fu to compare Fu’s face with the photo on the ID and passport as seen in Figure 4. Next, she takes Fu’s citizen ID for a more detailed check. To verify the ID, Martha takes the ID to an ultraviolet ray machine. She turns on the machine and the ultraviolet rays shine on Fu’s ID revealing a distinct watermark that Martha quickly recognizes.

Figure 3. Martha recieving Fu's passport.

Martha then inputs Fu’s ID number into the census registration system to verify his citizenship status. The system shows that Fu is over 20 years old, and that he has finished his mandatory military service. Martha now knows that Fu is free to go abroad whenever he wants.

Figure 4. Fu's passport and citizen ID.

Martha then uses her computer to print out Fu’s information and a sequence number. She clips the information sheet to the expired passport, hands Fu the sequence number, and tells him to come back for his passport tomorrow. Fu can now come back tomorrow, and give the number to anyone of the agents to retrieve his new passport.

Sarah helps Fu to organize his trip

In order to get a plane ticket to the United States, Fu calls his travel agent, Sarah. Fu has recently read news about China Airlines from an Internet web site. China Airlines had a plane crash in April this year. In addition, the records listed on the web site show that China Airlines has the highest accidental rate among all the airline companies. Therefore, Fu decides not to buy a ticket from China Airlines even if they happen to be the best deal.

Sarah understands Fu’s concern very well, and she begins to check out airline vacancies and prices for him in Figure 5. She first inputs Taipei and San Francisco as the source and destination into the system. Next, the system starts to show her the times and prices for all airlines on each day. Based on the results, she explains to Fu that weekend tickets are about 10% more expensive than tickets for a weekday. She also indicates that only three airline companies have direct flights from Taipei to San Francisco; they are China Airlines, Eva Airlines and United Airlines. Other companies, like Singapore Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and Cathay Pacific, have to make a connecting stop, which is very time consuming and exhausting for most people.

Figure 5. Sarah searching the travel system while talking to Fu.

According to the results from the database system, Sarah recommends Fu to take off during a weekday and choose a company that has direct flies. She also tells him that it is possible for him to check on the Internet for transportation other than airplanes for his trip from San Francisco to Eugene. She also recommends to Fu that he pay with his credit card because the bank will buy him insurance automatically if he uses his credit card to pay for his transportation. Thus, Fu does not need to buy any insurance separately.

From all the information given, Fu learns that he can only choose between Eva Airlines and United Airlines. Thus, with some challenging choices to still be made, he decides to ask his uncle for some advice.

Uncle Nan recommends that Fu book his ticket on the Internet

Fu knows that his uncle, Nan, has traveled to the US many times, and that he is familiar with gathering information. Fu then calls his uncle for advice. Nan tells Fu to come to his home, so that he can show Fu how to search the Internet with his computer.

Nan lets Fu sit in front of his computer himself because he thinks that it is better to learn by doing, not seeing. As seen in Figure 6, he guides Fu to the website, Yahoo.com because lots of travel information located there. He also indicates that he can travel by train or bus to go to Eugene from San Francisco, so he helps Fu to get familiar with Amtrak.com as well. He then instructs Fu to visit some travel web sites, and explains how to book e-tickets on the Internet.

Figure 6. Uncle Nan is guiding Fu through the Internet.

Nan continues by telling Fu that he must use a credit card to book the tickets. He explains that some of the companies do not accept credit cards outside the US, but some companies do. He says that using credit card on Internet is not absolutely secure because some companies do not have secure connections when taking a customer’s card number; therefore, he tells Fu that he needs to pay close attention to the security mechanism the web site uses.

Fu decides to book tickets for United Airlines and Amtrak

After a long discussion with his uncle, Fu plans his trip to Eugene. First, he will take United Airlines from Taipei to San Francisco, and then stay there for about two weeks. Next, he will take Amtrak from San Francisco to Eugene because his uncle Nan told him that it would be a new experience for him.

With uncle Nan’s help, Fu first buys the Amtrak ticket from an Internet web site. In Figure 7, he inputs the name of the two cities and the time he wants to depart. The web site then displays a list of all trains that he can take. Uncle Nan points out that he can choose different accommodation types, such as sleeper or seating. Fu decides to take the sleeper accommodation. Fu inputs all the required information on the web site and submits his order. In a minute or two, he gets an email from Amtrak recording his customer status and customer number.

Figure 7. Fu is purchasing his train ticket on the Internet.

Fu then calls Sarah for his plane ticket from Taipei to San Francisco. He tells Sarah he wants to take United Airline because it has direct flies to San Francisco and the lowest accident rate. Sarah asks Fu for his passport, ID, and how he would like to pay. Fu remembers that Sarah mentioned the bank would automatically buy him insurance if he paid with a credit card, so he tells Sarah that he wants to pay with a credit card. With Fu’s credit card number, Sarah types in Fu’s name, the flight number, and the credit card number into her computer booking system. In a second, the system pops up a message window telling her that the booking was successful. Only hearing some keyboard typing over the phone, Fu is told that it is all done and that the ticket will be mailed to him in a day or two.

Summary

Fu has decided to partake in the great college experience at the University of Oregon. With his decision, he is immediately faced with new challenges such as obtaining a valid passport, booking a flight, and making important decisions. Through the aid of people and technology, Fu handles all his problems with ease. The people and technology at the Bureau of Consular Affairs make his experience as trouble free as possible. Next, for planning his trip, Fu once again uses the aid of technology and people. The people in this story have provided Fu with advice he otherwise would not have obtained on his own. And the technology aided him in the quick renewal of his passport, and finding a way to travel to his home for the next two years.

This scenario was written and created by:

and

Yu-Hao Chan Jason Prideaux